A Georgia doctor who once practiced in Charleston was sentenced in federal court Friday to a year and a day in prison for exchanging bogus hydrocodone prescriptions with another doctor to feed their addictions.

Lonnie Keith Sipsy, 41, pleaded guilty to obtaining the drugs by fraud in October.

On Friday in Charleston, defense attorney Ben Bryant asked Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to consider heavily supervised probation for his client. Goodwin denied the request.

Sipsy already is being closely monitored by the Georgia state Board of Medical Examiners, which placed him on probation for five years in August, Bryant said. Sipsy also has undergone extensive treatment to fight his addiction, which evolved out of a painful back injury, not recreational drug use, he said.

"Dr. Sipsy has a high likelihood of success in maintaining his recovery and not offending again," Bryant said. "And should he fail in what he needs to do, the court can send him to prison."

From the witness stand, Sipsy's 38-year-old wife, Barbara, asked the judge to spare her husband prison time. The couple married Dec. 29.

Sipsy's recovery from addiction has become part of their lives, she said. Every Tuesday, both attend meetings before going to church and getting something to eat, she said.

"It's our date night, it's what we do," she said. "I go to support meetings, he goes to support meetings."

Goodwin refused, instead sentencing Sipsy to prison and imposing a $5,000 fine.

"I'm, frankly, appalled by the idea of doctors being drug dealers," the judge said.

According to the government's sentencing memorandum, Sipsy and Dr. Jeffrey Kent Bates traded prescriptions for hydrocodone while they both were at Charleston Area Medical Center between 2002 and 2004.

A Georgia doctor who once practiced in Charleston was sentenced in federal court Friday to a year and a day in prison for exchanging bogus hydrocodone prescriptions with another doctor to feed their addictions.

Lonnie Keith Sipsy, 41, pleaded guilty to obtaining the drugs by fraud in October.

On Friday in Charleston, defense attorney Ben Bryant asked Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to consider heavily supervised probation for his client. Goodwin denied the request.

Sipsy already is being closely monitored by the Georgia state Board of Medical Examiners, which placed him on probation for five years in August, Bryant said. Sipsy also has undergone extensive treatment to fight his addiction, which evolved out of a painful back injury, not recreational drug use, he said.

"Dr. Sipsy has a high likelihood of success in maintaining his recovery and not offending again," Bryant said. "And should he fail in what he needs to do, the court can send him to prison."

From the witness stand, Sipsy's 38-year-old wife, Barbara, asked the judge to spare her husband prison time. The couple married Dec. 29.

Sipsy's recovery from addiction has become part of their lives, she said. Every Tuesday, both attend meetings before going to church and getting something to eat, she said.

"It's our date night, it's what we do," she said. "I go to support meetings, he goes to support meetings."

Goodwin refused, instead sentencing Sipsy to prison and imposing a $5,000 fine.

"I'm, frankly, appalled by the idea of doctors being drug dealers," the judge said.

According to the government's sentencing memorandum, Sipsy and Dr. Jeffrey Kent Bates traded prescriptions for hydrocodone while they both were at Charleston Area Medical Center between 2002 and 2004.

Bates pleaded guilty to similar charges in August 2006. He has since served his three-month prison sentence and has been released.

"They agreed to write prescriptions for one another and share the pills," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Schwartz. "This lasted until at least 2004, when [Sipsy] moved to Georgia."

Sipsy also wrote fraudulent prescriptions for "at least two" CAMC nurses and his then-girlfriend's stepfather, the memorandum states.

Goodwin said the 77 prescriptions that Bates wrote for Sipsy and the 44 prescriptions Sipsy wrote for Bates allowed the doctors to obtain thousands of hydrocodone pills illegally.

While he applauded Sipsy's steps towards sobriety, Goodwin noted that he endangered his life and the lives of others through his conduct.

"There are few positions in our society that carry greater public trust than that of a licensed physician," Goodwin said.

The judge said he hopes Sipsy's prison sentence will serve as a deterrent to other doctors.

"I am concerned about the rather substantial number of physicians I have seen over the past year prescribing drugs for illegal purposes," Goodwin said. "It's particularly true in Southern West Virginia, and also here in the Kanawha Valley."

According to the Georgia Board of Medical Examiners Web site, Sipsy graduated from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in 1995 and practiced in Charleston until 2004.

Sipsy must voluntarily report to prison by March 10.

To contact staff writer Andrew Clevenger, use e-mail or call 348-1723.